Chinatown

06 October 2013

Chinatown

Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” takes us back into the era of cinema when we got great film noir pictures such as “The Maltese Falcon” (it even stars that gem’s director John Huston). It doesn’t rely on us seeing these films though as it works on its merits as we see Jack Nicholson in an interesting role as Jake Gittes because he’s less manic here than in most of films (most notably “The Shining” and “Batman”). It is done with tons of classic shots and music pieces that take us back in time and ready to try and solve this sometimes seemingly endless mystery that plunges our protagonist into a world of corruption, abuse and death. The film features no real heroes and no real villains as everybody has been wronged and everybody has wronged someone else, much like in real life. “Chinatown” isn’t quick but it is never boring and that’s arguably due to the fact we never leave Nicholson so much as for a moment. It’s a truly remarkable movie that Polanski and Nicholson deserve real credit for.